We started in Italy with the house where the composer William Walton lived for many years with his wife. The house is now a museum but during their residence, they developed a beautiful garden with an outdoor theatre. We then moved to Brazil where we learned about the Favelas. These were slum towns that grew up outside existing towns. Ruled by criminals and drug barons, they lacked any utilities and were truly outside the law. In recent times, the police have established some form of control and these towns are now popular tourist destinations. Our next visit was to Wales… Read More

Our September meeting took us around Europe visiting UNESCO World Heritage sites. To set the scene, we had a presentation on the origins of the scheme. The first site that UNESCO was involved with was the rescue of Abu Simbel Temple in 1960. This was followed by several Conventions covering both cultural and natural criteria for listing sites throughout the world. In Britain alone there are about 20 sites. We then heard about the Antonine Wall built by the Romans between the Rivers Clyde and Forth in Scotland. Built of turf on a stone base with a ditch on the… Read More

For our August meeting, we had presentations about historic bridges. These were located around the world and ranged from ancient to modern. We started in Derbyshire with the ancient stone bridge at Swarkestone. This bridge over the Trent is very long. We then moved to Scotland to hear about the Tay and Forth rail bridges. Originally the building of both was in the hands of Thomas Bouch, however after the Tay Bridge blew down, responsibility for building the Forth Bridge was placed in different hands. Our next bridge was in Japan. The Aqua-Line is a modern construction including both tunnel… Read More

Our members introduced us to a range of extracts from historic books. We started with the Domesday Book, learning of its origins and an extract regarding Gedling and Stoke Bardolph. We then moved to Egypt where a 1600 year old mummy has been discovered buried with pages from the Iliad to guide them through the afterlife. Returning to East Anglia we heard extracts from letters written in medieval times by the Paston family. Wealthy land owners, they were also prolific letter writers and there is an anthology of them. Samuel Pepys was a well-known 17th century diarist as well as… Read More

We learned about historic hobbies followed by our members. Jigsaws were invented several centuries ago as a tool for teaching geography. Modern jigsaws can vary from the simple few pieces for young children to large complex puzzles with hundreds of thousands of pieces. Cigarette card collecting used to be a popular hobby. Cigarette manufacturers put stiffener cards in packets then saw an opportunity to create collectable cards covering every topic imaginable. The Second World War put a stop to production of cards but there are still collectors looking to fill gaps in their collections. Trainspotting was a popular hobby with… Read More

We met for the first time in the Loco Centre which we felt was more suitable for a group like ours. This month we learned about various English Heritage sites. We started with an explanation of the origins of English Heritage starting from the “King’s Works” in Norman times. English Heritage was set up by the Government as a charity to administer a large range of buildings open to the public. We started at Lilleshall Abbey in Shropshire. This was an Augustinian house that voluntarily dissolved in the 16th Century. Following the Reformation, it became a private house until badly… Read More